Sunday 9 January 2011

Goose chase

Bright morning but again late rising! Decided to start at Ellerton Ings. Just setting our stall out when Peter Roworth and his wife appeared around the end of the church! Peter nearly jumped out of his skin as Rocky barked! He informed us he had just seen 3 European White-fronted Geese!! He left us to it but no sign of the White-fronts however, compensation was had in the form of c50 Pinkfeet.
It was a glorious cold, crisp, sunny morning and the view was spectacular. It was so nice to see water rather than ice! Also present was a good selection of waders...c30 Dunlin, c20 Ruff, c10 Redshank. Shelducks (c20) seem to be returning and are far more conspicuous lately. Still no WFG so we went for a walk to see if we could view the group from another angle. We ended up down a farm track but couldn't cross a ditch, so we returned with a flea in our ear from the farmer who informed us it wasn't a public footpath (no sign?). We returned to the church...bingo...3 birds showing!

Spent the last hour down Duff, not much to report except for more Shelduck (12). Bumped into a couple of nice chaps, one from Bubwith who told me he worked in the Middle East and another birder from York (forgot both your names lads...apologies). They both follow my Blog...I'm flattered!

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